City Council to Interview Candidates to Fill Vacancy

DWitt

By DONALD WITTKOWSKI City Council may fill a vacancy on the seven-member governing body that was created by the election of Antwan McClellan to the state Assembly by appointing someone to temporarily represent the Second Ward. Or maybe not. Council has the option of filling the seat or simply leaving it open for the remainder of McClellan’s unexpired term to July 1. At their meeting Thursday night, the Council members agreed to seek applicants for the open position. Candidates must be full-time residents of the Second Ward and will have to fill out an application at www.ocnj.us/councilvacancy or pick one up at the City Clerk’s Office at City Hall. Deadline for applications is 4 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 12. Candidates seeking the seat will be interviewed in closed session prior to Council’s Feb. 13 meeting. Council will then decide whether to vote to appoint someone when it convenes in open session or leave the seat vacant, Council President Peter Madden said. Madden said in an interview Friday that he expects perhaps three to five candidates will seek the appointment. He believes the number will be small because it is a ward seat rather than an at-large Council position, which represents the entire city. The Second Ward encompasses the south side of Fourth Street to the north side of 12th Street from the beach to the bay. McClellan had served as the Second Ward councilman since 2012, but resigned Jan. 14 to join the Assembly following his November election to the state Legislature. All of Council’s four ward seats will be up for grabs in the May municipal election. If someone is appointed Feb. 13 to fill McClellan’s former seat, it would allow that person to run as the sitting Council member in the Second Ward – in effect, giving them incumbent status in the election. “It gives them an opportunity to interview with Council, get appointed and hit the ground running,” Madden said. However, there is no guarantee that Council will even appoint someone, judging by the comments Thursday by two of the members. Third Ward Councilman Tony Wilson said he is “very comfortable” that the Second Ward will be adequately represented by the three at-large Council members until McClellan’s successor is elected. At-large Councilman Keith Hartzell said he didn’t see any harm in interviewing candidates, but added that Council will have the option of keeping the position open if it is not satisfied with the applicants. An appointment to Council is not unprecedented. Councilwoman Karen Bergman went through the appointment process in 2015 to fill the unexpired term of former at-large Councilman Michael Allegretto, who resigned to become the city’s director of Community Services. “The last time we did it, it turned out OK,” Hartzell said at Thursday’s Council meeting, alluding to Bergman’s appointment. Bergman originally served as a Second Ward councilwoman from 2008 to 2012, but chose not to seek re-election in 2012. She returned to the governing body in 2015, when she was unanimously appointed by Council to fill Allegretto’s vacant seat leading up to the 2016 election. She followed up her victory in the 2016 election by winning a full four-year term in the 2018 election.